Author Topic: Custom True Faith power  (Read 2932 times)

Offline luminos

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Custom True Faith power
« on: June 18, 2010, 03:48:33 AM »
Looking for some feedback on a True Faith power I'd thought up.

[-1] Ring of Faith:  The True Believer with this power has a portable circle made of items representing his faith (ex: Indian shaman has a rope with totems tied to it at even intervals) that can be used as a threshold to bar supernatural threats from entering it or harming those
inside it.
  Musts: A true believer or Champion of God related high concept Aspect.
  *Portable Threshold - Given sufficient time to set up the ring of faith (15 minutes minimum, longer times for circles > 10 ft. radius), the
                                ring acts as a Threshold: 2
  *Exclusive Threshold - The Ring of Faith does not stack on top of any pre-existing thresholds, and is not affected by this characters,
                                  or any other characters, Bless This House power.
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Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Custom True Faith power
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2010, 05:08:41 AM »
That looks perfectly reasonable to me.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2010, 10:45:26 AM by Deadmanwalking »

Offline Jeckel

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Re: Custom True Faith power
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2010, 06:45:14 AM »
Yes, very nice. I love me some True Faithers. 8)
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Offline Tallyrand

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Re: Custom True Faith power
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2010, 10:38:06 AM »
The idea seems fine, but I would raise the level of the threshold since honestly I think most people can do more or less the same thing.  To avoid any spoilers, at one point in the books a character with no appreciable magical talent manages to make an effective threshold with just some chalk and a few seconds of work.  I'd say either make it a highish threshold or make it a threshold that, within reason, can be one while he moves about.

Offline Deadmanwalking

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Re: Custom True Faith power
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2010, 10:47:16 AM »
I believe you're thinking of a Circle, not a Threshold. The two are very different.

Also, anyone with Bless This House actually gets a Great threshold instead of a Fair one, so there's some synergy.

Offline prophet224

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Re: Custom True Faith power
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2010, 02:20:41 PM »
There probably should be some synergy, but the way it is written it isn't affected by the 'Bless this House' power.  Although I do think that it should be.  Then you can probably leave it at 2 (or 3 maybe) and make it bigger.  Still 15 minutes?
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Offline luminos

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Re: Custom True Faith power
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2010, 06:01:56 PM »
15 minutes is put in there so someone can't just plop it down in the middle of combat.  It represents the time it takes to setup the circle, and pray or do whatever it is that the PC's particular faith does.  Can I get a show of hands who think it would still be okay if it could be stacked with Bless this House?
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Offline CMEast

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Re: Custom True Faith power
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2010, 06:23:10 PM »
* CMEast raises hand.

It's a very neat trick, flavourful and useful as is, but I don't think it's broken even the 'bless this house' bonus is applied. It can't be moved or set-up mid combat so I mostly see it as a great way to add tension to a situation. Creatures stalking outside while you're trapped within, setting up barriers around demonic doorways to weaken that otherwise overpowered enemy when he appears etc. Fun :)

Offline wyvern

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Re: Custom True Faith power
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2010, 07:43:41 PM »
Given that I'd allow someone to do what you've listed, for no cost at all, I find this particular power a bit underwhelming.  (Consider, for reference, the text on page 230, where it suggests that one can treat any form of magical barrier, from running water to a Circle, as a threshold.  Consider also that this seems to be the *only* reference I can find to protective Circles in the rules.  And consider that we know a relatively ordinary person can - if they know what they're doing - set up an effective defensive circle fairly quickly.)

Also compare this power to taking Rituals with a focus in wards; ignoring for the moment that warding rituals allow much greater flexibility in effect and also grant enchanted item slots, a character with rituals and, say, lore of +4, could make a protective circle of double the strength in a third the time or less - and they could tag aspects or accept consequences to dramatically increase the effect.

I'd suggest an alternative version:
[-1] Ward of Faith: The True Believer may spend a fate point to bolster an existing metaphysical barrier with her Faith; in essence, converting all magical powers (including physical attacks from supernatural creatures) that attempt to cross the barrier (in either direction) into mental attacks against the True Believer (who may defend with their choice of Conviction, Discipline, or the base strength of the original barrier).  The True Believer must focus to maintain this protection; supplemental actions and regular defenses are possible, but any attack or maneuver results in the Ward of Faith automatically failing.
A typical taken out result in such a conflict would be the Believer lapsing into unconsciousness, the barrier collapsing, and whatever action resulted in the taken out result proceeding unimpeded; a typical concession results in the destruction of the barrier (though this may not be appropriate if the True Believer is bolstering a powerful existing ward), and whatever action prompted the concession proceeding at reduced effectiveness as per the normal block rules.

This could be used in combat with a maneuver (probably based off of lore) to set up a pre-made "portable Circle" - which would on its own function as a strength zero threshold; this would probably protect a small, tight group of people at most; anything larger than that, and you'd need multiple exchanges (or, preferably, out-of-combat preparation time) to get an appropriate taggable aspect in place.

Offline luminos

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Re: Custom True Faith power
« Reply #9 on: June 18, 2010, 07:54:34 PM »
Given that I'd allow someone to do what you've listed, for no cost at all, I find this particular power a bit underwhelming.  (Consider, for reference, the text on page 230, where it suggests that one can treat any form of magical barrier, from running water to a Circle, as a threshold.  Consider also that this seems to be the *only* reference I can find to protective Circles in the rules.  And consider that we know a relatively ordinary person can - if they know what they're doing - set up an effective defensive circle fairly quickly.)

Also compare this power to taking Rituals with a focus in wards; ignoring for the moment that warding rituals allow much greater flexibility in effect and also grant enchanted item slots, a character with rituals and, say, lore of +4, could make a protective circle of double the strength in a third the time or less - and they could tag aspects or accept consequences to dramatically increase the effect.


On the first point: a magic circle can be casually broken by any human.  Plus, I'd imagine that they would be threshold one if a pure mortal put one up.  You can't leave a magic circle without breaking it, you can't shoot out of it, and you can't cast magic out of it.  Plus, the only ones you'd be able to put up very quickly would be ones so small they would only be big enough for one person.

On the second point:  Warding rituals are a lot more powerful, but if the game is being played by Canon, then you won't be able to put up a ward unless it is around a pre-existing threshold (word of Jim, its why Harry didn't Ward his office).  So this power would actually make a ward caster very happy, since it would allow him to put up the ward wherever the circle was setup.  Plus, this power doesn't require any skill to be used (perhaps it would, if the user wanted to set it up more quickly) whereas Wards require the user to devote skill point to three different skills.
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